Hi guys, welcome to the first day of Thoughts By J’s #BloggersGivingBack Christmas post. In the spirit of giving, Alana and I will be posting some useful tips in regards of blogging and the publishing industry all the way up to Christmas. We’re by no means professionals, but let’s just pretend we’re wise and all that shizz. Because we are. Sometimes. Just go with it ok?

There will be a post every second day all the way up to the 25th. We hope they’ll be helpful to a wide range of people, and feedback is very much welcome!

Also, we’re currently running a Christmas giveaway for a books of your choice up to AUD$20. So hurry over to it before it closes!

There’s 13 days till Christmas guys, how exciting! Have you done your Christmas shopping yet? I’ve been to the shops a few times and I’m slowwwwly making my way through my Christmas list. It’s super exhausting but I can’t wait to see the looks on everyone’s faces when they open their presents. Yes, I’m that person.

Because we’re all book lovers, the one thing I’m sure we all hope to be under the tree is of course a book! Which is why Alana and I have decided that since it’s the time of giving, we want someone to win a book as well. Hohoho!

BUT THAT’S NOT ALL!!

Christmas is not just about the material products. It’s about giving back, especially to the wonderful blogging community all around the world. It was only a year and a half ago that I started blogging, not knowing what the heck to do. There is honestly no right way to blog but in the days leading up to Christmas, we’ll be sharing our “secrets” to making your blogging journey FUN (and other tips as well). Maybe you want to work in publishing? Well we might have just the post for that as well.

Make sure you come back between the 15th – 25th December and join in on the fun festivities. Or keep an eye out for the #BloggersGivingBack hashtag we’ll be using.

For the giveaway, we won’t be picking the winner until Christmas Day, but hopefully the thought of winning the book will keep you excited until it arrives. Without further ado, enter away. And happy holidays everyone. <3 <3

Rules

Giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY, as long as The Book Depository ships to you

Entrants must be 13 years or older

Winner will be contacted by email after the giveaway ends. If you do not reply within 48 hours of receiving the email, a new winner will be picked

Abide by the rules, winner(s) found cheating will be disqualified and a new winner(s) will be chosen

Synopsis: “The second installment in the epic Starbound trilogy introduces a new pair of star-crossed lovers on two sides of a bloody war.

Jubilee Chase and Flynn Cormac should never have met.

Lee is captain of the forces sent to Avon to crush the terraformed planet’s rebellious colonists, but she has her own reasons for hating the insurgents.

Rebellion is in Flynn’s blood. Terraforming corporations make their fortune by recruiting colonists to make the inhospitable planets livable, with the promise of a better life for their children. But they never fulfilled their promise on Avon, and decades later, Flynn is leading the rebellion.

Desperate for any advantage in a bloody and unrelentingly war, Flynn does the only thing that makes sense when he and Lee cross paths: he returns to base with her as prisoner. But as his fellow rebels prepare to execute this tough-talking girl with nerves of steel, Flynn makes another choice that will change him forever. He and Lee escape the rebel base together, caught between two sides of a senseless war.

The stunning second novel in the Starbound trilogy is an unforgettable story of love and forgiveness in a world torn apart by war.” (Taken from Goodreads)

It’s hard to believe that it’s been a whole year since I first started this blog. I’ve technically been book blogging for more than a year on the wordpress hosted blog (before I self-hosted), but I don’t remember when I started on that one so oh well!

If you’ve been on my blog prior to today, then you’ll probably realise that I’ve changed my layout! It’s been something I’ve been meaning to do for a while now, so why not give it a new facelift as the blog hits its first milestone? I went around looking for a very different colour scheme to my old blog because I definitely wanted something dramatically different. So what do you think? I honestly love the purple, pinks and greens mixed together. 🙂

So what can I say about my first year of blogging that hasn’t been said before? Honestly, nothing original. But seriously, I need to thank YOU for reading my blog. It doesn’t matter who you are or how you stumbled onto here. Thank you.

A big shoutout needs to go out to the book community as well. I don’t really know where I’ll be without you guys (probably hermiting at home, as you do). I’ve meet – both in real life and virtually – so many wonderful readers, bloggers and publicists during the year. Everyone has been so welcoming, and it’s always awesome to put a face to the name at bookish events as well.

So seriously, if you ever see me lurking around, don’t hesitate to say hi!

And, to keep this short and sweet;

Thank you:

To all the bloggers that I’ve meet over this year – especially the ones who comment on my posts, who interact with me on social media, and who I can talk to about things other than books

To all the Australian publishing houses that I’ve worked with. Please keep doing your thing,I can’t imagine a world without books! Basically, thank you book industry!

And of course, thank YOU again. 🙂

Giveaway!

As a way of giving back to everyone, I’ll be holding a giveaway for both Australian and International book lovers. I will be choosing one Aus winner, and one international winner to basically win one book from this stack:

Goddess by Laura Powell

The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski

Take Back the Skies (ARC) by Lucy Saxon

Popular – A memoir by Maya Van Wagenen

The Cinderella Moment by Jennifer Kloester

Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta

It will be on a first-come first-serve basis, so whoever emails me back first will get first choice!

The giveaway is for Australian and international residents

Entrants have to be 13 years and over

After the winner is announced, they will be given 48 hours to respond. If no response is received, then a new winner will be picked.

The winner will choose their book on a first-in-best-dressed basis

Abide by the rules, winner(s) found cheating will be disqualified and a new winner(s) will be chosen

Hey guys! Oh man, it’s been a busy, busy week for me. I apologise for being M.I.A for a good part of this week, and for getting so behind on comment replies + visiting your blogs! I promise I’ll be getting around to it straight after this post is up! This week has been rather hectic because of final assessments and work. For you Sydney-siders, it’s Vivid time again! As much as I enjoy Vivid, it’s always such a pest as well because it gets extra busy at work, meaning everyone gets rostered on at night and it totally screws up my schedule/weekends. I suck it up as much as I can and just try and get things done. I’m heading to Europe in July, and need as much money as I can get – damn you awful exchange rates!

National Book Bloggers Forum 2014

On Tuesday 20th May, I was lucky enough to be able to attend Penguin Random House Australia’s first ever National Book Bloggers Forum (#NBBF14)!

Thank you to the wonderful Kirsty for organising it, it was such a brilliant day and I’m so thankful to have met so many fellow book bloggers face-to-face! I will DEFINITELY be heading back next year, I hope to meet a lot more Aussie bloggers at #NBBF15! 😉

I’m so sad I missed out on the group photo! But there will be plenty more chances for one at PTA Live! Woohoo!

There are so many wonderful books coming out from Penguin Random House, but as a YA centred blog, I’ll mention only the YA ones. I will have special mentions of the adult fictions that I’m also excited to read!

Hey guys, I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend. It’s starting to get cold here in Australia, and how do we booklovers warm ourselves on a cold day? With hot chocolate (or your beverage of choice) and some romance. In book form heh!

I will be sharing an excerpt from Claudia Y. Burgoa’s new NA book, Getting By, the first in her A Knight’s Tale series. The wonderful folks at Book Publicity Services have offered to give away an eBook of Getting By, so make sure you enter for your chance to win a copy of the book.

Synopsis: “When Emma Anderson arrived at San Francisco International Airport, she regretted accepting the distinction of being the maid of honor to Gaby’s—her childhood friend—wedding. It had been years since the last time she set foot in Menlo Park, where her parents had been killed. The rug where she had been shoving her feelings since that day looked bumpier than a camel’s hump. Who could blame her; if she hadn’t been selfish they’d still be around. Ever since that fateful day, Emma has been perfecting the knack of Getting By.

Cade’s wedding in Menlo Park—a city close to San Francisco—might be the perfect place for Jake Knight to shake the memories of his ex, Emma Anderson for good. Single, available women galore for an entire week was the perfect medication, one he intended to take three times a day for an entire week to return to his player days. It was a plan the former spy thought flawless until he came face to face with the maid of honor. Jake’s perfect retreat turns into a flight, fight or hide week of celebrations.

This is the first book in the 4 book series. The second book will be released later this year.” (Taken from Goodreads)

Hey guys! So I’ve joined in on the Best Series Blog Hop, that’s being hosted by the wonderful Cuddlebuggery girls to meet new bloggers, discover new books and hopefully win some as well! Obviously, that means I’ll also be sharing my favourite series with you AND you have the chance to win the first book from the series.

There were two series’ that really influenced my reading during my teen years, and being the indecisive person I am, I decided to pick both of them. So without further ado, they are…

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

This series is better known as The Golden Compass but I first read it in its original covers and names. Let me tell you, I was definitely hesitant in reading it because it just didn’t look appealing to me when I was 14/15. But when I found myself bored one day, I decided to finally give it a go…and my god. My mind was blown.

The world-building was brilliant, the characters were so realistic and the plot was fast-paced and never seemed to stop. It was the first fantasy novel (besides Harry Potter) that had caught my attention like that and I was just blown away. This series really changed me as a reader. I experienced my first book hangover with this series, and started demanding to read more fantasy.

Unfortunately, I haven’t reread the books in ages, but I remember the emotions I went through the first time. This series is great – give it a go!

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

I know these were published recently, but I did in fact read these in high school (probably 6-7 years ago). I know crazy! I was lucky enough to have read Sarah’s first draft of her series when they were still being published on FictionPress, and I remember just staying up all night reading. I was hooked!

The chapters were LONG, but they were so detailed and so well thought out that I didn’t even care. I remember thinking, this is an author that I need to look out for. Because I’ll be buying her books in a few years time. And look where we are now! Throne of Glass remains one of the best series’ I’ve ever read, full of amazing characters, great world building and a heart-throbbing plot.

I love Celaena! <3

Giveaway!

The giveaway is international and will run from 31st March 2014 to 6th April 2014. The winner may pick ONE book from either series

Entrants have to be 13 years and over

Available to entrants who The Book Depository ships to. Please check your country is on the list prior to entering

After the winner is announced, they will be given 48 hours to respond. If no response is received, then a new winner will be picked

Abide by the rules, winner(s) found cheating will be disqualified and a new winner(s) will be chosen

Hi guys, I’ve been waiting to post this all month, so it’s exciting to finally be able to share my interview with Carrie Lofty with everyone.

Title: Blue Notes

Author: Carrie Lofty

Genre: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

Publication Date: April 7th 2014 by Gallery Books

Synopsis: “For fans of Jamie McGuire and S.C. Stephens, a sizzling new adult novel featuring the tumultuous relationship between a young piano prodigy and a reluctant billionaire playboy—set against the vibrant backdrop of a New Orleans college campus.

After being bounced from foster family to foster family, Keeley, a talented pianist, is ready to start over as a junior at Tulane. But when she plays a small concert that attracts the attention of Jude, a brooding playboy and heir to an enormous fortune in the wake of his parents’ tragic death, suddenly Keeley’s life is thrown off balance once again.

Jude is the first person to confront her about the pain behind her music, and she struggles with whether or not to let him into her life, or to keep protecting herself from the hurt that relationships have caused her in the past. But Keeley’s about to learn that the melancholy young billionaire who appears to have everything can open her eyes to exactly what she needs…”

Today I have the pleasure of hosting a book blitz for the Shattered Worlds box set! I’m a lover of dystopian worlds, but very rarely are they done well. So when I read author Zoe Cannon’s work, I was astounded by how brilliant it was! Especially for a self-published author.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m very supportive of self-published authors, and have read some amazing SP works. But it’s always a wonderful surprise to read something that blows your expectations right out the door.

You can find my four star review of Zoe Cannon’s The Torturer’s Daughterhere. It is one of the books included in the Shattered Worlds box set.

Hi guys, today on the blog we have the wonderful Aussie author – drum roll please! – Tara Eglington. If you’ve read my reviews for How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You and How to Convince a Boy to Kiss You, then you would know that I really liked the Aurora Skye series. The series is not just humourous, but has many relevant messages for its readers. I wish I had a copy of these books back in high school. Reading about drama is always better than living it!

Tara has kindly taken the time out to answer a few questions and is offering up a copy of both her Aurora Skye books to three lucky winners! If you’re looking for a cute summer read at the beach, definitely enter this giveaway.

Interview with Tara Eglington

1. Where did you get the inspiration for the Aurora Skye series? Are the books based on real life events?

Looking back, the inspiration for the series came from many different things – however when I read through my teenage diaries the genesis of the first book is DEFINITELY there – quite a few of Auroras Rules of Attraction were my own scribbled down findings aged 16 or 17! Like Aurora, I thought I knew everything about love and dating and was always giving out advice to my besties – despite never having had a boyfriend myself. I had hugely high standards about waiting for my ‘prince’ and strict criteria that he was supposed to meet. I recently found the list of ideal qualities and its eight pages front and back, which gave me a good giggle!!! The series really sums up the gorgeous faith and idealism that you have about love during your early teen years – and which I still try to hold onto now that I’m older and a little more practical.

In terms of being based on real life events, there is admittedly quite a few crossovers – I DID fall out of a car and into a puddle, just like Aurora. However my incident didn’t come about via a Stop Kiss manoeuvre, it was due to my pulling down the passenger side flip-down mirror and finding a saucer sized spider on it. Being severely spider-phobic, I literally threw open my door whilst the car was pulling into our driveway and launched myself out the door and into the puddle just below, cutting my palm open on the driveway rocks. The whole situation was so embarrassing and ridiculous that I just had to adapt it into an Aurora sequence. Other based-on-real-life moments from the series include Aurora’s general clumsiness (I seem plagued by spills and falls in my day to day life), the interpretive dance teacher (yes, teachers that crazy really do exist!), Operation Stop Kiss, and a boy as gorgeous, talented, smart and cheeky as Hayden Paris (I’ll never reveal who)!

Basically, I was a teenager obsessed with love and romance (to the point where I once used a statistics class to sneakily conduct surveys of what my classmates found attractive in the opposite sex) and its not highly surprising that I wound up creating a character who wanted to be a matchmaker!

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Disclaimer

The books and items reviewed on Thoughts By J are purchased by us unless explicitly specified. We occasionally receive books for review from Australian publishers in exchange for an honest review. Thoughts By J does not receive monetary compensation for our reviews or posts.